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Statistical Information

This guide lists statistical sources of the United States and the world. It is a compilation of American University Library databases and print collections, and free Web sites.

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Major U.S. Multiple-Subjects Statistical Sources

US: Major Sources

Official U.S. statistics. Unlike many countries, the United States Government does not have one central statistical agency. Statistical collection and dissemination are spread across a number of agencies.

U.S. Census Bureau

AU Community Only:

U.S. Statistical Sources by Subject

US: Agriculture

  • Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), U.S. Department of Agriculture
  • Census of Agriculture (1840 to present), U.S. Department of Agriculture
    Dating from 1840, the Census is conducted every five years since 1920 and provides a detailed picture of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. It is the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county in the United States.
  • Agricultural Statistics. U.S. Department of Agriculture.
    (Call number: HD1751 A43). AU Library has print volumes from 1939-1953, 1956, 1964.
  • Farm Subsidy Database from Environmental Working Group
    Compilation from Commodity Credit Corporation payment information supplied by USDA's Farm Service Agency.

US: Aid

  • Greenbook (1946- ) from USAID: U.S. Agency for International Development
    U.S. economic and military assistance to the world.
    U.S. Overseas Loans, and Grants, and Assistance from International Organizations.
    (Call number: HC60 .U48425). AU Library has print volumes from 1945/1976, 1945/1980-1945/1981, 1945/1987-????
  • U.S. Official Devlopment Assistance Database (ODA) (2005- ) from USAID: U.S. Agency for International Development
    The reporting of U.S. foreign assistance is different between the Greenbook and the ODA.

US: Armed Conflicts and Security  

Terrorism & Preparedness Data Resource Center (TPDRC)

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  • Statistical Record of the Armies of the United States.  Frederick Phisterer.  New York, C. Scribner’s sons, [c1885].
    (Call number: E468 .C25 v.13). AU Library has print copy.

Civil War

  • Atlas of the Civil War.  Steven Woodworth and Kenneth J. Winkle.  New York: Oxford University Press, c2004.
    (Call number: E468 .W875 2004 LIB Ref Atlas shelves). AU Library has print copy.
  • "A Census-Based Count of the Civil War Dead," Civil War History 57 (no.4), Dec. 2011 by J. David Hacker. AU-only icon
    A revised upward of the traditional number for the Civil War dead.
  • A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. 3 vols. Frederick Henry Dyer. New York: T. Yoseloff, [1959].
    (Call number: E491 .D99 1959). AU Library has print copy.

World War I

  • A Comparative Study of World War Casualties from Gas and Other Weapons. Prepared by H. L. Gilchrist, Chief, Medical Division, Chemical Warfare Service. Chemical Warfare School, Edgewood Arsenal, Md., 1928.
    (Call number: UG477 .U65). AU Library has print copy.

Korean War

Vietnam War

  • Vietnam in Military Statistics: A History of the Indochina wars, 1772-1991. Micheal Clodfelter. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., c1995.
    (Call number: DS556.54 .C57 1995). AU Library has print copy.
  • Both print books The A to Z of the Vietnam War (2005) by Edwin E. Moise and the Dictionary of the Vietnam War (1988) by James S. Olson have casulty and fatality statistics under the entry CASUALTIES.

Iraq and Afghanistan

  • Casualty Status (pdf) from U.S. Dept. of Defense
    U.S. military and Dept. of Defense civilian casualty.
  • Afghanistan Index (Feb. 2005, Aug. 2008 to present),
    Iraq Index (Nov. 2003 to present),
    Pakistan Index (Oct. 2009-Dec. 2011) from Brookings Institute
    Monthly report presenting detailed security, casualty, economic, quality of life, and public opinion data on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan respectively.  Is updated every two weeks.

US: Arts

US: Criminal Justice

  • Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), U.S. Department of Justice
    Statistics and data sets on corrections, courts and sentencing, crime type,     Criminal Justice Data Improvement Program, employment and expenditure, federal justice system's processing of criminal cases, law enforcement, victims.
    • Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
      Annual compilation of criminal justice statistics from more than 200 sources. Data on corrections, courts, finance, judges, law enforcement, public opinion on crime and criminal justice system, arrests and seizures, courts, prosecution, sentencing, parole, jails, prisons and death penalty.
      Earlier editions are available: (1994-2002); AU Library has print editions from 1973-1990, 1992-2003 (call number: Ref HV6787 .S68; most recent edition in Reference).
  • FBI Uniform Crime Reports
    Uniform Crime Reports for the United States
    (Call number: Ref HV6787 .A3; most recent edition in Reference). AU Library has print volumes from 1946-2005, 2009 to present.
    • Crime in the United States (1995 to latest edition)
      Annual publication in which the FBI compiles volume and rate of crime offenses for the nation, the states, and individual agencies. This report also includes arrest, clearance, and law enforcement employee data.
    • Hate Crime Statistics (1995 to latest edition)
      Annual publication of data regarding incidents, offenses, victims, and offenders in reported crimines that were motivated in whole or in part by a bias against the victim's perceived race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.
    • Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (1996 to latest edition)
  • Death Penalty Information Center
  • National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
    Crime and justice datasets. A part of the ICPSR.
  • National Youth Gang Survey Analysis (1996 to present) from National Gang Center
  • Stats & Facts from U.S. Department of Drug Enforcement
  • Weekly Population Report from Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice
    Latest inmate count in each federal facility and in total. Updated weekly.

US: Economics 

  • Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. Department of Commerce
  • Statistics of Income, U.S. Internal Revenue Service
  • Federal Reserve Board
    • Statistics and Historical Data
      Statistics on consumer credit outstanding, factors affecting reserve balances, industrial production and capacity utilization, and money stock measures.  Also includes statistics on bank assets and liabilities, business finance, exchange rates and international data, flow of funds accounts, household finance, industrial activity, interest rates, and money stock and reserve balances.
    • Surveys and Reports
      Statistics on bank asset quality, bank assets and liabilities, bank structure data, business finance, exchange rates and international data, household finance, money stock and reserve balances, and dealer financing terms.
  • Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Economic Research
    Huge amount of economic, financial and banking data can be found in the databases and tools, FRED®, ALFRED®, FRASER®, CASSIDI®, and Liber8™.
  • Conference Board: US Economic Forecast

US: Education

  • National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education
    • Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Educaation.
      (Call number: L112 .A64; most recent edition in Reference). AU Library has print volumes from 1975-1976, 1978-2003, 2006, 2008.
    • Digest of Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education.
      (Call number: L111 .A35; most recent edition in Reference). AU Library has print volumes from 1976-1979, 1981-2003, 2006.
    • 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait.  Editor, Thomas D. Snyder. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics, [1993].
      (Call number: LB2846 .O54). AU Library has print copy.
  • American Institute of Physics: Statistical Research Center
    Data on education and employment in physics, astronomy and allied fields.
  • National Science Foundation: Science and Engineering Statistics
    Education, federal government, business and industry, international, research and development, social dimensions, state, and workforce statistics on science and engineering.

Elementary and Secondary Education

Higher or Postsecondary Education

  • Chronicle of Higher Education AU-only icon
    The Facts & Figures section     has American colleges and universities statistics on students, faculty, administrators, athletics, institutions, and their resources. Among the statistics are salaries, tuition, enrollment, institutions' expenditure and endowment. Includes the annual publication Almanac of Higher Education.
  • American University: Academic Data Reference Book (1971, 1980,1990, 2003-2004 to present)
    Enrollment and faculty statistics.
  • Graduate Enrollment and Degrees Report, Council of Graduate Schools
    Annual report with statistics from 1986 to present on applications for admission to graduate school, first-time and total graduate student enrollment, and graduate degrees and certificates conferred.
  • Higher Education Arts Data Services (HEADS) Project.
    Access is restricted.
    including enrollment, degrees offered, operational budgets, faculty salaries, ethnic breakdown of faculty and students, etc.
  • Open Doors from Institute of International Education
    (Call number: Ref LB2283 .I615; most recent edition in Reference). AU Library has print volumes from 1968-2008.
    Statistics on international college students in the U.S. and U.S. college students studying abroad.

Libraries

  • Library and Book Trade Almanac, formerly The Bowker Annual
    Statistics on libraries and book sales and prices.
    (Call number: Ref Z731 .A47, Z731 .A47; most recent edition in Reference). AU Library has print volumes from 1975 to present.
     

US: Elections

  • For national election statistics, see guide: Political Science/ Government.

US: Energy and Environment

US: Ethnic Groups and Minorities

  • Statistical Record of Black America. Detroit: Gale Research.
    (Call number: Ref E185.5 .S83). AU Library has print volumes from 1990-????

US: Gender

US: Geospatial data

US: Government and Political Science see also Government Documents-U.S. Guide

  • Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President
    • Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government. Office of Management and Budget.
      These tables are a section within each year's Budget of the United States Government. Annual statistics start as early as 1901. These tables provide data on budget receipts, outlays, surpluses or deficits, Federal debt, and Federal employment covering much longer time periods than those covered by similar tables in other budget documents. The data in each volume and all other historical data in the budget documents have been made consistent with the concepts and presentation used in that year's budget so the data series are comparable over time.
      AU Library has print volumes from 1985/1986-1989/1990, 1997-1999, 2001, 2003-2004. (Call number: HJ2051 .A59742).
  • Research, Statistics, &  Policy Analysis, U.S. Administration Social Security Administration
  • Farm Subsidy Database from Environmental Working Group
    Compilation from Commodity Credit Corporation payment information supplied by USDA's Farm Service Agency.
  • FedSpending.org from OMB Watch
    Statistics and information on federal government spending, particularly federal contracts and grants.
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  • Campaign Finance - Federal Election Commission: Campaign Finance Reports and Data
  • Elections/Parties/Policy - CQ Press Political Reference Suite: Vital Statistics on American Politics (AU Community Only); CQ Voting and Elections Collection (AU Community Only)
  • Federal Budget, Congressional Documents, Presidential Documents, etc. - GPO Access
  • Immigration - U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Immigration Statistics; U.S. Census Bureau: Immigration
  • Military - Department of Defense: Facts and Statistics
  • Political action committees - Federal Election Commission: From FEC home page, go to News Releases or search for "Federal PAC Count"
  • Veterans - Department of Veterans Affairs: Program Statistics
  • Vital Statistics on Congress and Vital Statistics on Congress 2008.
    (Call numbers: JK1041 .V58, JK1041 .O76 2008). AU Library has print volumes from 1980,1982,1984/1985-???,

US: Health, Medical and Vital Statistics

HIV/AIDS

  • Compilation of HIV prevalence and incidence data resources.
  • Kaiser Family Foundation: HIV/AIDS

Mental Health

Substance Abuse

US: Labor 

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
    • Handbook of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Labor.
      (Call number: HD8064 .A3). AU Library has print volumes from 1929, 1936, 1941, 1947, 1967, 1969-75, 1977-79, 1983, 1985.
  • National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), National Science Foundation
    Education, federal government, business and industry, international, research and development, social dimensions, state, and workforce statistics on science and engineering.
  • OSHA Weekly report of Fatalities, Catastophies, and Other Events: This table provides links to regional totals and incident summaries for Fiscal Year 2012 incidents. A link below the table to the "Archives page" provides data from Fiscal Years 2009 - 2011.
  • Unionstats.com
    The Union Membership and Coverage Database has statistics on private and public sector labor union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the Current Population Survey.

US: Media

  • Ad$pender AU-only icon
    Provides five-years of historical data on ad expenditure and a summary of U.S. advertising across print, radio and television media by companies, some of which is on the brand level. Note: Use is limited to 3 concurrent users.
  • Library and Book Trade Almanac, formerly The Bowker Annual
  • Statistics on libraries and book sales and prices.
    (Call number: Ref Z731 .A47, Z731 .A47; most recent edition in Reference). AU Library has print volumes from 1975 to present.

US: Military and Arms 

US: Population, Demographics and Migration

  • Immigration Data Hub from Migration Policy Institute
    U.S. and internation migration facts, stats and maps.
  • Minnesota Population Center
    Includes:
    • IPUMS-USA - Harmonized data on people in the U.S. census and American Community Survey, from 1850 to the present.
    • IPUMS-CPS - Harmonized data on people in the Current Population Survey, every March from 1962 to the present.
    • National Historical Geographic Information System - Tabular U.S. census data and GIS boundary files from 1790 to 2000.
  • Population Reference Bureau: Datafinder
    Detailed U.S. and international population statistics.
    U.S. statistics on population characteristics, education, health, labor force and commuting, economic security, housing, and family structure.
    World statistics on population trends, education, economic, environment, health, HIV/AIDS, and reproductive health.

US: Religion

  • ARDA: Association of Religion Data Archives
    Religion and social statistics and datasets.
  • Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, formerly Yearbook of American Churches
    (Call number: BR513 .Y4,  BR513 .Y4). AU Library has print editions from 1937, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1952-1953, 1955-1972, 1973-2004, 2006 to latest edition.

US: Science and Technologies

US: Social

  • Childstats.gov
    Statistics and reports on children and families, including: family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education and health. The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics (Forum) is a collection of 22 Federal government agencies involved in research and activities related to children and families.
  • Minnesota Population Center
    Includes American Time Use Survey-X - Annual harmonized data from 2003 forward on how U.S. adults divide their time among activities.

US: Transportation

  • Bureau of Transportation Statistics
    • U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS): International, U.S. Dept. of Transportation
      • North American Transborder Freight Database (1994- )
        Freight flow data by commodity type and by mode of transportation (rail, truck, pipeline, air, vessel, and other) for U.S. exports to and imports from Canada and Mexico.
      • Border Crossing/Entry Data (1995- )
        Monthly incoming border crossing/entry data for vehicles, containers, passengers, and pedestrians at the port level on the U.S.-Canadian and U.S.-Mexican borders.
      • North American Transportation Statistics Interchange (1990- )
        Data on transportation and the economy, transportation safety, transportation’s impact on energy and the environment, passenger and freight activity, and transportation and trade among Canada, the United States and Mexico, both within individual countries and between the countries.
  • Federal Transit Administration: National Transit Database
  • Statistical Summary of Commercial Jet Airplane Accidents: Worldwide Operations 1959-2009 (PDF) from Boeing
  •